Fun FRIENDS

Ages 4 - 7

The Fun FRIENDS Program was developed by Dr Paula Barrett to help guide the social and emotional development of children aged 4 to 7 by using fun, play-based group activities. Fun FRIENDS nurtures the child’s development by teaching them to engage resilience early on, encouraging them to thrive and smoothly transition into school life.

The group activities where children learn new skills are crucial to the success of the Fun FRIENDS program. These evidence-based, play-focused activities equip children with a these foundational resilience skills in a way that can be easily grasped, understood and used in everyday life:

Relaxation techniques for the body and mind during stressful situations

Engaging and relate to peers and making friends

After undertaking Fun FRIENDS, parents and teachers may notice the following changes in a child:

Improved confidence

Increased ability to cope with stress

Increased ability to cope with fear

Enhanced social skills

Improved ability to communicate better with adults

Boosted self esteem

Increased happiness and enthusiasm

The secret to the Fun FRIENDS Program is the group activities that help children to learn new skills. There are a number of different evidence-based play-focused activities, which help teach the following skills to participants in a way that can be easily grasped, understood and used in everyday life:

Smiling and making eye contact when communicating

Speaking with a brave and confident voice

Talking about and understanding feelings in themselves and others (empathy development)

Relaxation techniques to relax the body and mind during stressful situations

Approaching groups of peers and making friends

Trying new things, and different approaches to problem solving

Identifying negative thoughts and turning them into positive thoughts

The structure of the Fun FRIENDS Program is a 5-session course. Each session takes between 2-2.5 hours, depending on the activities chosen by the facilitator. To help participants remember the FRIENDS concepts, and to bring structure to the sessions, we use the following FRIENDS acronym:

Feelings (talk about your feelings and care about other people’s feelings)